Kiss Me, Stupid (1964)

A jealous piano teacher Orville Spooner sends his beautiful wife, Zelda, away for the night while he tries to sell a song to a famous nightclub singer Dino, who is stranded in town.

Director:

Billy Wilder

Writers:

Billy Wilder (screenplay), I.A.L. Diamond (screenplay),

Stars:

Dean Martin, Kim Novak, Ray Walston

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Dean Martin	...	Dino
Kim Novak	...	Polly the Pistol
Ray Walston	...	Orville
Felicia Farr	...	Zelda
Cliff Osmond	...	Barney
Barbara Pepper	...	Big Bertha
Skip Ward	...	Milkman (as James Ward)
Doro Merande	...	Mrs. Pettibone
Bobo Lewis	...	Waitress
Tom Nolan	...	Johnnie Mulligan (as Tommy Nolan)
Alice Pearce	...	Mrs. Mulligan
John Fiedler	...	Rev. Carruthers
Arlen Stuart	...	Rosalie Schultz
Howard McNear	...	Mr. Pettibone
Cliff Norton	...	Mack Gray

Storyline

Dino, the charming and lecherous Las Vegas singer, stops for gas on his way to Hollywood in Climax, Nevada. The oily gas station attendant is Barney Millsap, a would-be lyricist who writes pop songs with Orville Spooner, the local piano teacher. By disabling Dino's car, Barney contrives a scheme to have Dino sing one of their songs on an upcoming TV special. To entertain Dino, Barney contacts the village tart, Polly, employing her to pretend to be Orville's wife, Zelda, for a night. She doesn't like Dino, but does love being Orville's surrogate wife. Dino goes to a bar, where he meets the real Zelda, and they spend the night together while Polly spends it with Orville.

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Plot Keywords:

piano | piano teacher | singer | nevada | nightclub | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 December 1964 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Beija-me, Idiota

Filming Locations:

Aquarius Theater - 6230 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mirisch Corporation, The, Phalanx Productions, Claude Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Theatrically released in the USA with The Pink Phink as the preceding cartoon.

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Quotes

Dino: Now look lady, you may have heard a lot of singers but you ain't heard nothin' sung till you've heard me sung it.

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Connections

References Fun in Acapulco (1963)

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Soundtracks

"All the Livelong Day"
(pub. 1964) (uncredited)
Music by George Gershwin
Lyrics by Ira Gershwin
Sung by Ray Walston (dubbed by Ian Freebairn-Smith)

User Reviews

Love movies with happy endings...

Okay, so it's Wilder. Forget all the other movies he's made. By itself

• this one's got a plot, a funny one at that and Ray Walston's ability

to replace Peter Sellers may not be possible - unless you never knew Peter Sellers had the part before him. Not a bad film at all - watched without any knowledge of Peter Sellers role or caring about what Billy Wilder had done previously (or since). I liked it - and the storyline fits the everyman dream of finding success (for almost everyone). Love those movies with happy endings. Whenever you see a movie it isn't always the people playing the characters that matter, it's the story being told and the craft with which it's told. This one fits now - may not have in 1964, but it does now.